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Copywriting Touchpoints - Are Your Words Losing Sales?

Apr 4th 2011 at 1:44 PM

A lot of website owners think that the look of their website is the most important thing. However, even though the design of a website may draw people in, it's the words that are on the website that can attract and convert your traffic. If you find that you're getting a lot of visits but not a lot of conversions, the words on your website may be to blame.

Even if you're not a professional copywriter, you can still get a lot of mileage from your website with a few important copywriting touchpoints. These keys will make your website more effective, leading to more conversion rates and higher sales.

Work on the Headline First

The headline on your sales page (or the title on your blog post) deserve the most attention when you're copywriting. It will be the biggest attention getter and will convince the reader to invest the time to read the rest of your page. It can also draw traffic in. A well written title will attract attention in search engine results and encourage people to click through to your site. Far too often, marketers will slap up a headline on their copy and hope for the best. Perfect your headline first before you move onto the rest of your copy.

What's In It For Me

This is one of the most important copywriting principles. Your website visitors don't come to your website to help you. They are coming because they need something. You have to show what's in it for them if they buy your product or service. What are they getting from it? Instead of focusing on the features of your product or service (what it will include) focus on the payoff for the buyer. For example, your new ebook may be 50 pages and cover the topic of losing weight naturally. But what does that mean for the buyer? It will mean better health, more freedom, more self confidence and a nicer figure. Focus your copy along the benefits and you'll be able to capture the attention and the imagination of your audience.

Use the Attention, Interest, Desire and Action Format

The AIDA format is most commonly used in long form sales letters - but no matter how long or short your website copy is, it's a good idea to focus on these areas. Your first goal is to capture their attention. Make a bold (but true) statement early on in your copy to get the reader interested. Build this interest by explaining the benefits and results of purchasing your product or service. Increase their desire in purchasing from you by emphasizing the pain points if they don't and emphasizing the rewards of making the purchase. Finally, seal the deal with a call to action that is irresistible. Imply urgency with your offer by offering it for a limited time or reducing the number of quantities available. You can use this same format in long form copy or a short article to get the same results.

By keeping these three touchpoints in mind when you are creating copy for your website, you'll see much better results!